warmed up
Hi
let me share some "news"
I have been using this DAC (E-MU USB 0202) from 2006 but the sound caused listening fatigue after ~1 hour of listening.
I decided to tweak it and added additional WIMA 0.47 caps in parallel to original electrolytics on main board. To main original 2200u/10V cap I soldered 2 OSCON SEPC 270u/16V, one 1000u/63V low esr, 0.47 and 0.33u/63V WIMA. All of those operations took ~15 minutes.
The results are OUTSTANDING!
With StalthAudioPlayer using high quality audio files it plays much better than my moded cdplayers with tube I/V at the output.
The sound now is detailed, relaxed and calming with plenty of the details.
I am highly recommending this dac with tweaked power caps.
Hi
let me share some "news"
I have been using this DAC (E-MU USB 0202) from 2006 but the sound caused listening fatigue after ~1 hour of listening.
I decided to tweak it and added additional WIMA 0.47 caps in parallel to original electrolytics on main board. To main original 2200u/10V cap I soldered 2 OSCON SEPC 270u/16V, one 1000u/63V low esr, 0.47 and 0.33u/63V WIMA. All of those operations took ~15 minutes.
The results are OUTSTANDING!
With StalthAudioPlayer using high quality audio files it plays much better than my moded cdplayers with tube I/V at the output.
The sound now is detailed, relaxed and calming with plenty of the details.
I am highly recommending this dac with tweaked power caps.
Attachments
This ones even got a schema,if you scroll down:
CS4398 CM102 CS8416IC DAC kit 192K/24BIT SPI&I2S Amplifier Board | eBay
CS4398 CM102 CS8416IC DAC kit 192K/24BIT SPI&I2S Amplifier Board | eBay
I have pics and schematics for versjon 9, if you would likesend me mail or post..
Hi Okasin,
I have this dac version V5 and would like to see the differences with V9 to mod it.
Do you have schematic and pics for me?
Regards,
Alex Bartels
The Netherlands
Hi Richard,
What did you do to get it working at 192Khz?
Regards,
Alex Bartels
The Netherlands
There are some serious design flaws in this DAC.
First is that the contacts of the muting relay are wrongly configured (nc and no contacts are swapped), resulting in a click-sound when switching from/to mute.
Second is the relay circuitry is not able to provide the full 12Vdc coil voltage and sometimes the relay doesn't switch to unmute.
Third is that the chip on the 192KHz sample rate converter board (CS8421) is powered with 3V3 digital core where the specs mention 2.62V max.
This finally killed my upsampling chip by switching the DAC on. I modified the upsampling with a 1N4148 diode providing 2.6V at Vd (pin 3).
Altogether, the DAC really sounds nice
I've attached the jumper settings and schematics for the one who's interested (multipart zip files, remove the last .zip from the filename).
Regards,
Rolf
The Netherlands
First is that the contacts of the muting relay are wrongly configured (nc and no contacts are swapped), resulting in a click-sound when switching from/to mute.
Second is the relay circuitry is not able to provide the full 12Vdc coil voltage and sometimes the relay doesn't switch to unmute.
Third is that the chip on the 192KHz sample rate converter board (CS8421) is powered with 3V3 digital core where the specs mention 2.62V max.
This finally killed my upsampling chip by switching the DAC on. I modified the upsampling with a 1N4148 diode providing 2.6V at Vd (pin 3).
Altogether, the DAC really sounds nice
I've attached the jumper settings and schematics for the one who's interested (multipart zip files, remove the last .zip from the filename).
Regards,
Rolf
The Netherlands
Attachments
Try AK4495SEQ dac's. You need SPDIF input or I2S?
Not sure about your DIY capabilities, otherwise I would try Soekris DAM1021 with RPI/I2S
Btw, I had this same dac before too, and switched to:
Upgraded Version of Assembled AK4495EQ II2S DAC Board Support 32bit 768K Decoder | eBay
Just to compare sound between CS4398 and AK4497SEQ, AK definietly won.
Not sure about your DIY capabilities, otherwise I would try Soekris DAM1021 with RPI/I2S
Btw, I had this same dac before too, and switched to:
Upgraded Version of Assembled AK4495EQ II2S DAC Board Support 32bit 768K Decoder | eBay
Just to compare sound between CS4398 and AK4497SEQ, AK definietly won.
Last edited:
thanks for info, have you tried with transformer output or using stock Opamps? kit is cheap though!
I used it with LME49720HA which sounded real good.
It probably, eh, definitely will sound a lot better with your transformers
Soekris DAM1021 is more expensive, but definitely a good step-up!
But, I liked AK4495SEQ a lot, and built my own DAC
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5ivzpgUT3UYU0tMLVdnQ0NodFk/view?usp=sharing
At first I used it with isolated XMOS USB interface, and nowadays using it with RPI3+DAC+Pro I2S direct into I2S input AK4495SEQ.
Software used is LMS 7.9 on Qnap TS-853A-8G nas and PiCoreplayer, latest version, on RPI
Sounds unbelievable good!!!!!!
And, still using LME49720HA......
Bursons V5i and V5's are on the way to test, will write a review for Burson
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5ivzpgUT3UYU0tMLVdnQ0NodFk/view?usp=sharing
At first I used it with isolated XMOS USB interface, and nowadays using it with RPI3+DAC+Pro I2S direct into I2S input AK4495SEQ.
Software used is LMS 7.9 on Qnap TS-853A-8G nas and PiCoreplayer, latest version, on RPI
Sounds unbelievable good!!!!!!
And, still using LME49720HA......
Bursons V5i and V5's are on the way to test, will write a review for Burson
me too...I just don't know if I can live without my UTC's...even have the original boxes still